Attacks on media continue across Middle East

New York, February
16, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the continued
assaults on journalists covering anti-government demonstrations in the Middle
East. In recent days, journalists have been obstructed, assaulted, or detained in
Libya, Bahrain, Iran, and Yemen. Authorities have also slowed down Internet
connection and blocked websites, according to local journalists.

"It's alarming to see Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Iran, take
a page from Egypt and Tunisia to use violence and censorship to stop coverage
of political unrest," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem,
CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The international
community must speak out against these deliberate acts of media obstruction."

Unrest in the region
has been growing since late December when Tunisians began a revolt against President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year rule
and since the collapse of the Mubarak regime in Egypt in February.

In Libya, writer and blogger Mohamed Ashim was detained
today after security forces raided his home and confiscated his computer and
mobile phone, according
to news reports. Taqi al-Din al-Shalawi, the director of Irassa, a local, independent news website, and Abdel Fattah
Bourwaq, the site's editor-in-chief, were summoned for questioning by internal
security forces, according to daily newspaper Libya Al-Youm. Benghazi,
Libya's second largestcity, today
saw widespread anti-government demonstrations. Thirty-eight people have been
injured, according to news
reports. Activists are calling for additional demonstrations across Libya
on Thursday, in what has been dubbed a "Day of Rage."

In Bahrain, the government has selectively reduced the speed
of Internet connections inside the country for the past two days, journalists
and activists in the countrytold
CPJ. Currently, the Internet is being slowed down selectively in newspaper
offices, hotels, and homes but not in governmental institutions, local
journalists told CPJ. Also, a number of accounts on the video-sharing website
Bambuser were blocked according to CPJ's sources. On Tuesday, Hassan Jamali, a
photojournalist working for The Associated Press was summoned for questioning by
the Interior Ministry after taking pictures of people injured in
anti-government demonstrations, a colleague speaking on condition of anonymity
told CPJ. Authoritiesordered him to
not take additional pictures of the injured.

In Yemen, two journalists were beatenafter being accused of working for Al-Jazeera, local journalists
told CPJ. One of the attacked was Hassan al-Watat; CPJ was unable to identify
the second journalist. On Tuesday, BBC Arabic correspondent Abdullah Ghorab and
his cameraman, Mohamed Omran, were beaten by "men from the ruling party" while
covering anti-government demonstrations in Sana'a, Ghorab told
Agence France-Presse. Ghorab appeared on BBC and Al-Jazeera broadcasts with
blood on his face and hands immediately following the attack.

In Iran, mobile phone service, which had been severed on Sunday
and Monday, has been restored. However, Internet service remains very slow throughout
the country, according to news reports, making it very difficult for people to
upload photographs or videos of the confrontations taking place on the streets.
Numerous reformist news websites have been intermittently blocked over the past
week, according to journalists and news reports.